October Zig Zag

We zig zagged across 4 states and not being very fuel efficient at that; but we have been in these states many times since starting this Great Adventure, however, never close to the capitals. So far the lovely fall weather has still been with us, but we are anticipating it to turn cold and rainy when the weather bomb hits and the central states experience “atmospheric river”. We figured why not drive all over the place.

Illinois St Cap Old State House

Springfield, Illinois THE MOST SPECTAULAR CAPITAL WE HAVE ever visited! No lie. It is so ornate, and so much marble and crystal chandeliers that you think we were in the Vatican! Illinois has had many capital buildings. While on the  tour of the building, I’ll admit I got a little confused trying to remember all the capital building they did have. As far as I can figure out, Illinois had at least 6 capital buildings. # 1 and 2 located in Caspian got swallowed up by the Mississippi River. #3 in Vandalia was too small so Lincoln and his gang of 9 petitioned to move it to Springfield. First one there burned, of course, so then they built another one that is still standing but also too small. Number 6 took several years to construct due to deaths and what not, funds, fights you name it, but it finally got built to the tune of $4M. What struck me was all the glass chandeliers, the variety of elaborate decorative plaster frieze and multiple types of marble and all the leaded art glass. Beyond description – go there. And actually the Old State House, although very plain, was grand. Notice it even has a dome albeit plain.

Indiana Capital

Indianapolis, Indiana. Now we cross back to Indiana because it seems all we do there is get Wanda fixed and we have to fulfill the GA obligation and get to the capital. It was big and ornate. Not as ornate as Illinois but still pretty impressive. A disappointment was the grounds; it is right in the heart of the city and it has paved parking lots all around it right up to the steps. Don’t want any of the congress (House or Senate) walking too far! It is beginning to sound like see one, seen ’em all. We didn’t stay long here.

Columbus Ohio W McKinley

Columbus Ohio. This is by far one of the least impressive buildings on the outside. But I learned something about the style of building. Many of the capitals that we have been to in the East are of the Neoclassical Style (Roman) with big cupolas on the top. Columbus is of the Greek style with just a dome on top, so it is rather “flat” in its appearance. However, go inside and it knocks off your socks.

3 Interesting tidbits about this capital

• Interesting part was entry is underground in the Catacombs which was built by the prisoners at the time. Building took a long time to construct because it was totally funded with tax payers’ dollars and the government kept overspending
• During renovation (all these building go thru renovations) a shoebox was found in the dome with a dead cat in it. Apparently, this is a Celtic custom to have a dead cat in attics to ward off evils and protect the building. See cats are good to have around!
• Statue of William McKinley, 25^th President and Ohio Governor in 1891. McKinley statue is facing what was once a hotel where he and wife took residency during his term as Governor. McKinley, known for his promptness would leave the residence precisely at 9am walk across the street mount the steps to capital, turn around and wave to his wife who was ill and looking out the window. Then again at 3pm (great working hours, eh?) would repeat the process on his way home. Now that’s love.

• Charleston, West Virginia a lot of marble and a big building and that is about it. Not all the art work, statues, paint decorations on the walls, stain glass or impressive lightening that are use to. Just a big building made of marble and painted walls. Made me wonder if during one of the renovations since building was built in 1913 if they didn’t paint over all the wall decorations and got rid of the light fixtures, even covered over the dome stain glass.

Charleston WVa

Now for the rest of the month

Had dinner with some good friends, while in Marblehead, Ohio. Pat and Bob Tomizac, you might remember these folks from our 2019 blog when we visited them in Florida. They live in Huron Ohio so we took the time from our busy tourist schedule to visit with them. They are such characters, always up to something fun. See ya in Florida this winter!

Pat & Bob Tomizac

Fun with Welbourn’s

Flight93 Duquesne Incline Ohiopyle Pittsburg Leslie & Tom Welbourn

First bike stop was down in the Ohiopyle area, Laurel Hills specifically. Spent our time here riding the Great Allegheny Passage – which, by the way, travels for 364 or so miles connecting Washington DC and Pittsburg PA. There a lots of places to pick up the trail, we choose Ohiopyle area because of its beauty. The ride itself is easy, flat and follows along rivers. Not much color but who cares – the rides were fun and the company better.

Flight 93 a sobering but must needed stop from all our fun to thank those who fought so bravely against terrorism. The grounds where the plane went down is hallow, the museum which details the brave fight is well done. Even hear the transcripts of the voicemails left to love ones. Thank you all you brave people.

Pittsburg to ride the city still on the GAP trails. What an excellent way to view the skyline of a town. A couple of weeks later Ty and I are watching Sunday night football and the Steelers were featured. And there it was, THE Stadium! It’s right on the river, we rode past it several times. How fun is that?! Note to self: that is not fun, that is old. Visited a Frank Llyod Wright, Kentuck Knob, which was much in keeping with his more traditional designed homes (he built over 1000 homes!) in a very peaceful setting. Fun thing to do in the city is to take the Duquesne Incline (a cog type car) up the side of hill to the next level of Pittsburg. We had high hopes to ride our bikes but it was WAY to hilly to ride around so next best, lunch!

Pittsburg is also home to Heinz, a Strip Corridor (hmmm) and also everyday weirdness.

Said our good byes to Tom and Leslie – catch ya next year someplace -it was so fun to camp with you two!!!

Now the Zig Zag

Goshen Indiana is a town thriving on trucks and trains with lots and lots and lots of trains passing thru ALL THE TIME! Day and night, blowing their horns for the many crossings AND keeping one awake most of the night – even with earplugs. And then there is the Amish striding thru town with their black buggies and horses. The contrast is mind blowing. Stayed in the Elkhart 4H County Fairgrounds – new one for us, but it was cheap despite the trains. Also, Elkhart which is close has the RV Museum which I had to go see (Ty stayed home). My mom and dad had a green hard sided camper like the one displayed in the picture. Little known is GM actually produced a RV (yellow in pic) on a Cadillac chassis.

Most importantly, Wanda is all fixed (hitch that is) and we were on our way in about an hour. You can see by the pic that the hitch on Wanda is a big deal.

Lincoln Tomb

Weather is still nice so we head over to Springfield Illinois; now this was a long way, out of our way, but we have nothing but time and the weather is starting to turn but not bad yet. We find a “city” campground to stay at, again pretty cheap to stay here, no trains but we do have a lot of lights from the near by arena. Springfield is a “surprise” city as there is lots to see and do here. We biked around the city, visited the capital (both), Lincoln’s tomb, and an old fort. Worth visiting.

Indianapolis Indiana – Zagging back to Indiana because it seems all we do there is get Wanda fixed and we have this obligation to get to the capital. It was big and ornate. It is beginning to sound like see one, seen ’em all. We didn’t stay long here mainly because although it was another very cheap, Indianapolis State Fairgrounds, the place was SO lite up at night I had to put the blackout shades on all the windows just to get to sleep (see pic). Just the capital on this trip. Weather starting to turn too.

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio – Ohio Expo State Fairgrounds, trains that go all night long with horns blowing every 3 seconds as they pass thru, we were the only ones there and it cost us a whopping amount to stay here. Such a disappointment, although…there was a yearling sale going on so we got to see that. Not something we have ever done before and we found it very entertaining! The horse in the pic sold for $160,000!!!  Will say that we really liked Germantown, old homes kept up beautifully and pubs on the corner. A lovely downtown. We both said we could live there, but Bucks? No way. But wait – home base of WhiteCastles!!! We couldn’t resist.

Port Albon West Virginia we find a FREE city park! It is right on a river, but is a boat launch parking area with a nice little park dedicated to Rosie the Riveter. This is a busy little boat launch with people stopping by to eat lunch or dinner by the river, walk the dog or just enjoy the view.  At first we thought our standards are getting lower as we become more vagabonds however, this place is comfortable and safe. Actually, picked this spot for 2 reasons: 1. Charleston is the capital of West Va and 2. we got our Covid booster shot and last time I had a 6-hour reaction and we decided to just overnight and see what happens. Well, this time I was down for 24 hours and glad just to have a bed in a place that was nice and dark! Plus, the weather bomb has dropped so it is time to head south!

Brag – grandson Tyrus is 18 and this is his senior picture. So proud of all that he has accomplished and has overcome to be just the outstanding man he has become! Love you Tyrus.

PS: Tyrus use to be hailed as “Little Ty” but as you can see he has surpassed Grandpa Ty hence now he is Tyrus.